SEMA 2011: Subaru Launch Custom Performance Cars

The Japanese automaker releases a handful of custom cars for the Las Vegas event.

Relatively speaking Subaru has put out a modest display of custom, classic and racing cars for this year's SEMA event. First up is the WRX STI in which Mark Higgins set the fastest production car lap at the Isle of Man this summer. Running a standard 305hp turbocharged boxer engine, the Subaru was modified to include a Hockley Motorsports roll cage, motordrive competition seats and an open exhaust to warn spectators at the track that it was coming their way.

The speed limiter was also switched off to allow for a higher top speed, and the springs and dampers were changed to accommodate the circuit's high speed jumps, one of which sent the car almost four feet off the ground. The other WRX STI on show was driven by David Higgins when he won the 2011 Rally America Championship. A 2.5-liter DOHC intercooled, turbocharged aluminum-alloy 16-valve 4-cylinder Boxer engine producing 303hp and 451lb-ft of torque is at the heart of the drive train and a long list of modifications were made to fine tune this Subaru including a programmable competition driver controlled center differential ECU.

Other modified Subarus on show include a SPT (Subaru Performance Tuning) WRX, a Kicker Audio WRX STI, an Impreza Sport, and a fully restored 1986 XT Coupe: the world's most aerodynamic production vehicle at the time of its production.